Here the novel may reveal some contemporary anxiety. We live in a culture that increasingly devalues adulthood. People are being allowed, encouraged, and conditioned to think and feel in less than adult ways. We are deluged with fantasy, and many adults are turning to narratives whose sole function is to comfort and empower. Either this or they are putting their faith in the so-called “literal” truth, as reflected in the popularity of nonfiction and the increasingly literal readings and interpretations of religious texts. Adulthood is being equated with unimaginativeness, as if childhood is the only realm of the imagination. Is it any wonder that we now find ourselves in a world dangerously polarized between fantasy and fundamentalism?

Q: Does this mean you feel pessimistic? Certainly The Perfect Man doesn’t seem pessimistic. For all the tragedy there is also a great deal of wonderful humor, the development of a profound love, a good number of deeply sympathetic characters, and an ending that seems very optimistic—though, of course, in a way that is not unequivocal.

NM: There are really two endings to the novel. The penultimate chapter ends the drama focused on the collective world of that small town and the mystery of what happened to the child who died some years before Raj’s arrival. Here this secret finally erupts, as suppressed truth tends to, in a distorted and destructive way, implicating every member of the community. The last chapter focuses on Raj more specifically, the man he has become, and a critical decision he has to make.

With regard to pessimism, I don’t feel pessimistic. Beneath all tragedy and horror lies the miraculous fact of human existence. I also think that pessimism simply can’t be afforded at this juncture. We are in a very treacherous place, given what is going on in the world, and the void of imagination and compassion that is leading to such seemingly intractable polarization.

Q: The Times Literary Supplement compared you to Faulkner, praising you for “recreating an entire world with a full spectrum of human emotions” as Faulkner did with Yoknapatawpha County in Mississippi. The review goes on to say that “it does not matter whether the story is told in Pisgah, or in New York: the story of growing up, loving, losing, hating and yearning is the same everywhere.” Were you surprised by this claim that The Perfect Man is a universal story?